23-29 November was Asbestos Awareness Week, so we're encouraging our members to be more aware of asbestos when doing work, or even in your home. 

If a house was built or renovated before 1990, there is a good chance it has some asbestos.

Did you know it’s often found lagging around pipes, inside fuse boxes or as part of ventilation shafts?

Infinity cables imported by Infinity Cable Co Pty Ltd were recalled nationally in 2013 after they failed electrical safety standards due to poor quality plastic insulation coating. This could cause electric shock if the cabling is disturbed.

In 2017, the life of Brisbane handyman Stephen Viner was cut tragically short when he entered a flooded basement to check on malfunctioning pumps. 

When a Coroner's report found his death was caused by improperly decommissioned electrical equipment, Stephen's daughter-in-law reached out to share his story — hoping it could serve as a warning, and protect others working with electricity from the fate that befell Stephen. 

--

There are plenty of ups on for lift mechanics. 

Safety is absolute number one priority in our trades. It comes before anything else. 

Every year about 200 Australians go to work and don’t come home. It's time for bosses who neglect safety to be held properly accountable by industrial manslaughter laws, writes ETU national secretary Allen Hicks in this piece published in the Daily Telegraph on April 29, 2016.